REBIRTH
Most Buddhists take it for granted that the death of the body is just like the end of a chapter and that a new chapter in the story of life follows on immediately.We could liken birth and death to the action of going from one room to another. To leave one room is like dying to that room and to enter another room is like being born into that other room. The act of dying and the act of being born are one and the same action. As we cross the
threshold of the two rooms, both leaving and entering take place simultaneously and there is no sense of having lost ourselves in the process.
The passing away, or death, of one condition is the beginning, or reborn, of another. If we look upon birth and death in this way, then we shall see it simply as change and not as something to fear, either for ourselves or for others. Of course, there may be some pain and suffering involved in the process of dying, and separation from family and friends may be very sad and distressing. But death itself is only birth, not annihilation. The Buddha said we have been born and we have died time and time again.
"Inconceivable is the beginning ol this Samsara (the circuit of mundane existence); not to be discovered is any first beginning of beings . . . hurrying and hastening through this round of rebirths."
The Buddha: Samyutta-Nikaya, The Word of the Buddha. (abbreviated)
REBIRTH AND REINCARNATION
In the West any reference to more than one birth is usually thought of as reincarnation, but the Buddha's teaching of rebirth is not the same as reincarnation.
Perhaps the best way of explaining rebirth is with an analogy. A candle is lit. The flame burns until the candle becomes very short and is almost finished. As the flame begins to flicker out, a second candle is lit from the first. The flame of the first candle now dies out completely, leaving only the second candle burning. The flame burns away the second candle and, again, just before it reaches its end and flickers out, a third candle is lit from that . . . and so on, one candle being lit from another. The flame flickers and burns continuously and the candles are constantly being used up and renewed.
The candles represent physical bodies and the flame represents the mind. The two work harmoniously together — an interplay of mind ami body; they are a unit. This combination of mind and body is what we usually think of as 'ourselves'. The body gets older and older as the years roll by until it falls into decay and, like the candle, is incapable of being used any more. The mind, like the flame, twists and turns constantly, the same yet not the same, different yet not different, from moment to moment, day to day, year to year and, Buddhists would add, from life to life.
There is nothing permanent or static in the candle or the flame; they are constantly changing. There is nothing permanent or static in the mind and body either. In this impermanence there is no eternity and no annihilation. Instead there is a re-becoming process. This re-becoming process is rebirth.
Reincarnation, on the other hand, is described as the transmigration of a soul or spirit (something tangible even though subtle) from one body to another, and from past to present to future. A good analogy of reincarnation is this. There is some water in a bowl. This water is poured into another bowl and then into another bowl, the same water being transferred from bowl to bowl ad infinitum.
The bowls represent physical bodies and the water represents the soul or spirit which occupies those bodies. The soul is said to leave a body at death for another body somewhere else. This soul or spirit is considered to be permanent and real.
The difference between reincarnation and rebirth, if understood in these ways, is therefore very great. In the teaching of rebirth no spirit or soul is thought to exist, or anything permanent which can transmigrate from the past to the present, or from the present to the future. Only the mind and body of the moment is seen to actually exist, the present mind and body being born out of the previous mind and body, the previous mind and body being born out of the mind and body before that, like a chain reaction, nothing actually being transferred from past to present or from present to future.
RECOGNISING REBIRTH
We may think we have been born into the world and that we shall die. We may think that at death we shall transmigrate, or go to sleep forever, annihilated, finished. We may think beings are real, or we may think they are an illusion. Merely to think or believe any of these things, however, is of no avail. Thoughts and beliefs are not truths. And while we are content to believe what others tell us, we shall never know the truth for ourselves.
Rebirth is to be recognised; it is not something to be believed in. In order to do this, views and opinions first have to be completely cleared away. Then, without any pre-conceived ideas, we can simply become aware of what happens to the mind and body from moment to moment.
The mind and body may be regarded either as a single unit or as a combination of parts — form, sensation, perception, mental activity and consciousness. It can be seen that these five constituent parts, which are all that actually exist of a sentient being, are changing constantly, just like the candle and the flame. The body moves about, gets hungry, tired and sick; it grows and becomes old and wrinkled. Mental and physical sensations turn from pleasure to pain and then to pleasure again. Things are perceived as good and then as evil, and then as good. Thoughts come, and stay for a fleeting moment before being replaced by other thoughts. One kind of consciousness is experienced and then another in rapid succession.
As we become aware of just how fleeting our states of mind are and how the body changes, then we become aware of the rebirth process.
"As one form changes into another, so is the mind born and broken upj thence I tell my disciples how uninterruptedly and momentarily birth-[and death] takes place."
The Buddha: The Lankavatara Sutra.
Form changes, but it does not change into anything other than form. Thoughts change into other thoughts; sensations change into other sensations; perceptions change into other perceptions; and consciousness changes into other types of consciousness. One thing follows on from another, like to like all the while. A thought does not itself change into a feeling and body itself does not change into a thought.
When we die, our bodies are buried or cremated, etc. Regardless of how they are disposed of, however, some kind of form remains even if it is only in the nature of smoke and ash. Form re-becomes as form; mind re-becomes as mind. If mind were annihilated at death it would run contrary to the laws of nature. Nothing in the universe is eternal and neither is it annihilated. Everything is on the move going round and round, each thing re-becoming or being reborn as another.
The mind and body of a few years, a few days, or even of a few moments, ago is not the same as the present mind and body. Likewise, the present mind and body will not be the same in the future.
"This body is the form of drifting along in the flow of impermanence; hence from instant to instant it arises and perishes. This mind is an illusive mind; hence it is false and illusory. Do not rely on them."
Ippen Shonin: The Record of Ippen.
Sentient beings undergo a natural, spontaneous and continual renewal process, as do all things. The mind and body changes from moment to moment like the candle and the flame, the same yet not the same, different yet not different. Nothing permanent is to be found anywhere in the mind and body. And if nothing permanent is to be found, neither is anything to be found which could be construed as a self. The self in the normal sense of the word is a delusion.
One day the Buddha said:
"What do you think, monks? Is the body permanent or impermanent?"
"Impermanent, Sir."
"Is that which is impermanent, dissatisfying or satisfying?"
"Dissatisfying, Sir."
"Is whatever is impermanent, dissatisfying, of a nature to change, something to be regarded as, 'This is mine,' 'I am this,' 'This is myself?"
"No, Sir."
"Is feeling . . . perception . . . mental activities . . . consciousness permanent or impermanent?"
"Impermanent, Sir."
. . . "Is whatever is impermanent, dissatisfying, of a nature to change, something to be regarded as, 'This is mine,' 'I am this,' 'This is myself?"
"No, Sir."
"Therefore, monks, 1 say, whatsoever body . . . feeling . . . perception . . . mental activities . . . consciousness, past, future or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near, should be looked upon as, 'This is not mine,' 'I am not this," 'This is not myself.' In this manner it should be seen according to actuality with perfect wisdom."
Samyutta-Nikaya: An Anthology,BPS,(adapted and abbreviated)
This does not mean, of course, that we are nothing; it simply means we are not the mind and body. If we realise that mental and physical processes are not 'us', then we shall realise there is no need to fear death because the breakdown of the body is not the death of what we really are.
The changing mass of life was referred to by the Buddha as the re-becoming process, or rebirth. It is neither complicated nor difficult to understand, but unless it is pointed out to us, we usually fail to see it. He said we have been born many times. But it was in this sense of a changing mind and body undergoing continual birth and death to which he referred.
Impermanence can be recognised because it is an obvious fact. Therefore rebirth can also be recognised because rebirth is a synonym for impermanence. The mind and body are impermanent, yet they continue to exist — this is rebirth. Rebirth is a fact of life that is taking place continuously and which can be recognised by us all.
